A Curious Day

Robert Burns said "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go stray." We had our schedule for Wednesday all neatly laid out, but things did not go according to plan. Our cleaning lady was coming at noon, and we were going to meet Pastor Alejandro and his wife for lunch at one o'clock today, then go home, and go to Francisco and Luz's house for dinner, a simple day, but the day started early with a phone call from our friend Sergio. His seventy-eight-year-old grandmother has passed away. People have to be buried within twenty-four hours. Sergio's grandmother actually raised him because his mother worked in the capital when he was growing up. Even though he is a Christian, most of the family is Catholic, so he told us that they would have a mass at three o'clock and the internment at five. That would change things a little bit, but not too badly; nevertheless, I texted Luz that we were cancelling dinner because of the funeral.

At 9:30 in the morning, John was at the gym, and I had settled to study for the Thursday Bible study when the door bell rang. It was our cleaning lady! She decided to come early to be able to go to the funeral. Well, that was fine, except that John needed to come home and take a shower. We worked it all out, and set off to meet the pastor. While on our way, the pastor called. "When are we meeting? "Well, today." "At what time?" "At one." "Oh, are you on your way?" "Yes, as a matter of fact." "Well, I am meeting Leo, from church, who is taking the sound equipment to Nicoya (one and a half hours away) to be fixed. Can you meet us and then I can ride to the restaurant with you?" "Sure, of course!" We waited for him at a parking lot on the way. "Now, where is your wife?" "Oh, she is back at our business and she is babysitting our grandchildren because our daughter-in-law had to go somewhere. She won't be able to make it." He didn't know that Sergio's grandmother had passed away and was not dressed for a funeral. We then stopped by his house, not too far from the restaurant, so that he could change. We finally went to the restaurant for lunch and were able to talk about the plans for the short-term trip arriving on Sunday.

From the restaurant, we went back to our little town for the funeral. On the way the pastor said, "Wait, turn around. There goes Pastor Bernabe. I need to give her the money for the church loan that it is due." (The loan is actually under the other church's name.) He called the pastor, and he waited for us to turn around. We all got out of the car to say hello. He gave him the cash, and we were standing there making small  talk, but he told us he had to go because he had a woman from his congregation in the car who was in labor. He was taking her and her husband to the hospital!

We finally arrived to the funeral, and, as usual, there were as many people outside the church as inside. Sergio and his wife were outside, so we stayed with them. Luz arrived in a taxi with her two younger children. The mass was finally over, and they carried the casket on their shoulders. I was wondering where the hearse was, but soon realized that she was being placed on a pick up truck. (I am really not making this up!) We drove to the cemetery following an assortment of vehicles with the pastor, Luz and her two children.. About  half a mile from the cemetery everybody stopped. We were again wondering what was going on, but Luz explained that it was a local tradition to carry the body on their shoulders to the cemetery. We just drove on and waited. All this time, the pastor is constantly answering phone calls about business, church members and family. One of those calls was from Leo, who had his car. He  was on his way back and wanted to know where he could meet him. "At the cemetery," he said. We could hear Leo over the phone: "What??" "At the cemetery, I had to go to a funeral."

 It was also raining off and on all day, so the cemetery was muddy. Luz and I talked most of the time. I was able to give her advice about a few things. Most people just mill around the cemetery while the person is being buried. There are no chairs, and really not a good place to stand. John was talking the whole time to Randall's father. They seem to have good conversations at cemeteries.What a weird day!! We are now home, recovering.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for Sergio. He was very closed to his grandma. He stopped every morning for coffee before work and every evening after work. His grandfather is still alive. Grandpa doesn't know the Lord and neither did his grandma.
• Pray for the short-term team coming. For safety and good health.
• Pray for us as we minister.
• Pray for me as I host our friends Carlos and Rosario for eight days. Cooking is not one of my talents.

Thank you for your prayers! Until next time...from the beach